Paramount Theatre
203 W. Alder Street,
Walla Walla,
WA
99362
203 W. Alder Street,
Walla Walla,
WA
99362
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Midstate Amusement Corp.
Functions: Parking Garage, Retail
Previous Names: Keylor Grand Opera House, Keylor Grand Theatre Paramount Theatre
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The Keylor Grand Opera House was built by Howard R. Keylor in 1905. Its large stage made it one of the leading stops for touring companies in the west, and it hosted such spectacles as the 1909 tour of the stage production of “Ben Hur”.
The Keylor Grand Theatre presented live theatre until closing around 1930 and then remained dark for nearly a decade. On January 22, 1944 it reopened as a movie house, renamed Paramount Theatre with Bing Crosby in “Star Spangled Rhythm”. It remained through the early-1940’s to at least 1950 when it was operated by Midstate Amusement Corp. After that it became a venue for wrestling matches and other live events. In 1954 the auditorium was demolished, but the large stage house was converted to a garage. The stage house remains standing today.
Contributed by
Joe Vogel
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The web site Walla Walla History has a pair of then and now photos of the Keylor Grand (click on the 4th thumbnail in the left-side frame on that page.)
The business currently situated in the theater’s old stage house (and a small modern addition) is an outfit going by the unusual name of H&H Sports and Loan. They give their address as 203 W. Alder Street, so that was probably the address of the theater as well.
Here is an article from the Walla Walla Union Bulletin dated 5/15/54:
http://tinyurl.com/nl6l24
http://tinyurl.com/nj55dc
http://tinyurl.com/lsqyr6
More links:
http://wallawalladrazanphotos.blogspot.com/2009/12/keylor-grand-theatre.html
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8342
http://www.thadsworld.net/2011/09/low-rise/
http://nwda-db.orbiscascade.org/findaid/ark:/80444/xv95245
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/17259
http://wallawallahistory.com/
http://www.whitman.edu/magazine/spring1999/speech.html
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=87565&cat=boxer
http://www.narhist.ewu.edu/pnf/articles/s1/vii-1/goodsamaritans/goodsamaritans.html
This theatre was also known as the Paramount in 1946